New program gives ASU engineering students touch-free access to information.

August 17, 2017

Aim is to enhance engineering students’ experience while preparing them to become leaders in voice-technology development

Amanda Nguyen, a senior majoring in biomedical engineering at Arizona State University, has had the latest wave of technology in her hands for 24 hours.

As a resident in ASU’s newest and most high-tech dorm for engineers, Nguyen chose to take part in a first-of-its-kind voice-technology program on a university campus by receiving a new Amazon Echo Dot, a hands-free, voice-controlled device that sends and receives messages, controls smart home devices, provides information and more.

In the first 24 hours of having the latest technology at her fingertips, Nguyen has been exploring what her new device can do. So far, she has used it to wake herself up, play music and do random things.

But Nguyen, an event planner in the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, has bigger plans for it.

“I want to be able to incorporate it into an event I’m planning,” she said. “I’m really excited for everyone to have one.”

The ASU program, with support from the Amazon Alexa team, is designed to enhance students’ ASU experience by giving them touch-free access to information and services tailored to campus living — and prepare some of them to become leaders in voice-technology development.

As part of the effort, engineering students moving into Tooker House, a new residence hall for engineers on the Tempe campus, can choose to receive a new Amazon Echo Dot and become part of the first voice-enabled residential community on a university campus.

In addition, students like Nguyen can sign up for courses that teach new concepts focused on building voice-user interfaces with Alexa, Amazon’s digital assistant. Incoming freshmen engineering students will be able to build their own Alexa skills, or capabilities, and join the growing community of voice developers.

Video of

Video by Ken Fagan/ASU Now

ASU also will introduce an ASU-specific Alexa skill to enhance the campus experience for students, faculty, staff and alumni. Anyone with an Alexa-enabled device can use the “ASU” skill to get information about the university and the campus.

“With voice-enabled devices becoming more prevalent in our connected world, it only makes sense to bring these capabilities to our campus,” said John Rome, ASU’s deputy chief information officer. “By working with Amazon to create the first voice-enabled campus, we’re furthering ASU’s position as the No. 1 university in the U.S. for innovation.”

“We are excited to work with ASU on this program, which will power their voice-enabled residence hall with Alexa and equip students with the in-demand skills they’ll need when they graduate,” said Steve Rabuchin, Amazon vice president of Alexa. “The university shares a vision with us for the future of voice, and we believe it’s paramount to engage students in a way that sparks their imaginations and inspires them to build the technology of tomorrow.”

The voice initiative includes three undergraduate engineering courses this semester that will add voice-user interface development, with a fourth course planned for this spring. Engineering students can build their own Alexa skills, both independently and in the classroom, using a collection of application program interfaces, tools, documentation and code examples

“Once they are familiar with the devices, they are going to want to further develop their own skills and begin integrating that technology — the hardware and the skills — into other projects,” said Octavio Heredia, Fulton Schools’ Global Outreach and Extended Education director. “Our focus is putting this technology into the hands of our students in a way that will build an ecosystem that supports voice technologies throughout the ASU campus.”

It furthers ASU’s evolution toward a “smart campus,” a vision for a future university setting that combines sensing, connectivity and data analytics to inform decision making, optimize operations and energy efficiency, and create a highly personalized campus experience for every student, professor, staff member and alumnus.

Bhavik Patel, a mechanical engineering senior and peer mentor at Tooker House, demonstrates use of an Amazon Echo Dot while working on formulas. Engineering students living at Tooker House will receive a Dot as part of a larger voice-technology education. They'll will have a choice of four optional "skins" to wrap their Amazon Echo Dot with; click the right arrow to see the designs.

Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

“It’s about innovation and ensuring our graduates are equipped to play a leadership role as voice-enabled technology becomes part of everyday life in homes, shopping malls, workplaces and cities,” said Kyle Squires, dean of ASU’s Fulton Schools of Engineering. “Bringing voice technology into our classrooms and onto our campus reflects our commitment to both the breadth and depth of the student experience at the largest engineering school in the nation.”

ASU’s vision for a connected campus is incorporating the Internet of Things, big data and analytics not only for facilities management (energy, water, waste management, predictive maintenance, etc.), but also as a mechanism to deliver a high-quality, personalized education experience to every ASU student.

ASU launched its journey to a smart campus with a smart Sun Devil Stadium — an initiative that so far includes standardized Wi-Fi capabilities and sensors in the end zones that analyze humidity, temperature, sound and vibration, enabling adjustments to be made accordingly. Moving forward, the tech will allow enhanced fan experiences — including cellphone app notifications relevant to the game or stadium event, parking and concession information and a range of interactive experiences.

The sensing and technology initiated in Sun Devil Stadium will be broadened to support green benefits across campus, to include lighting, waste and energy management systems, traffic control and voice-activated maps and information centers.

Also on deck are smart fleet management systems for golf cart reservations and tracking; navigational systems for all transportation modes; and residence hall efficiency systems that adjust resources based on time-of-day activities.

Arizona State University has been ranked No. 1 in innovation by U.S. News & World Report for two years in a row, staying the course by imbedding innovation into its schools, departments, athletics and student experiences.

ASU is intent on delivering world-class, on-campus and digital experiences by placing students, faculty, administrators and alumni at the heart of design. These planned features, designed to facilitate student-faculty engagement, include:

Scott Seckel

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Editor's note: This story is being highlighted in ASU Now's year in review. To read more top stories from 2017, click here.When Arizona State University’s latest crop of engineering students move this weekend into the state-of-the-art residence hall built specifically for their discipline, they aren’t living in just any old dorm.They are living totally immersed in an engineering education expe...

ASU's new Tooker House brings engineering education home

Want to know when your laundry is done? Yeah, there's an app for that.

August 11, 2017

Everything at cutting-edge Tempe residence hall designed to enhance what Ira A. Fulton students learn in classrooms and labs

Editor's note: This story is being highlighted in ASU Now's year in review. To read more top stories from 2017, click here.

When Arizona State University’s latest crop of engineering students move this weekend into the state-of-the-art residence hall built specifically for their discipline, they aren’t living in just any old dorm.

They are living totally immersed in an engineering education experience.

Everything about Tooker House, a brand-new 1,600-student community for engineering students, is designed to enhance and extend what they learn in classrooms and labs.

“Innovation has a new home address at Tooker House,” said Kyle Squires, dean of the Fulton Schools of Engineering. “This mixed-use living and learning facility sets a new standard in engineering education and reflects the breadth and depth of the student experience at the largest engineering school in the nation.”

Video of Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering - Tooker House

Video by Ken Fagan/ASU Now

The fully Wi-Fi-accessible facility has enough bandwidth to accommodate four devices per resident. There are seven social lounges, seven study lounges and six academic success centers.

“Everything in here is built with the mind-set of engineers,” said Bradley Bolin, assistant director for residential life at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. “If you look at the ceilings, they look like they’re unfinished, but this is the finished product. They know engineers want to see not just the surface, but what’s beyond the surface. Where does water run? Where is the electricity? What kind of materials did they use?

“If you walk down the hallway, you’ll see where the hot water line is and where the cold water line is. You’ll see where Internet is placed. Our electrical room is all glass on the hallway side. Students who are interested in that type of engineering can walk down to what is running our building and look through and see actual engineers using the space.”

Engineers love to know how things work, and how things are put together.

“To see the inner workings of a building kind of kick-starts peoples’ imaginations,” said Pedro Giorge, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering who lives in Tooker House. “It’s really cool to see an application of what we learn in school actually applied. When you’re in your books and you’re concentrating on your work and the theories behind really don’t make a connection until you actually see something like an electrical system or a mechanical system. It’s just really cool to see that at home for a lot of these students.”

The vast majority of Tooker House residents are first-year engineering students. (The first and second floors are dedicated to upper-division students.) They run the gamut: civil engineering, mechanical engineering, material management engineering.

“Any type of engineering taught at Fulton, they can live at Tooker House,” Bolin said.

The "guts" of Tooker House, including the water system pictured, are on display for students, feeding into an engineer's desire to see how things work.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Engineering students have to do a lot of group work, said Bradley Bolin, assistant director for residential life at the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering. Group areas at Tooker House feature glass walls that students can write on while they're collaborating on projects. "They can write out their big equations like they do in the movies," Bolin said.

Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

Tooker House is designed to be energy-efficient. The building’s most striking feature, hundreds of vertical perforated louvers on the south façade, each positioned according to a sophisticated algorithm, ensures daytime sunlight control unique to each window’s location. Highly efficient glazing allows transparency and daylight without detriment to thermal performance and comfort.

Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

The fully Wi-Fi-accessible facility has enough bandwidth to accommodate four devices per resident. There are seven social lounges, seven study lounges and six academic success centers.

Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

In addition to a full-service, 14,000-square-foot, 525-seat dining facility, Tooker House features kitchen areas throughout the residence hall that students can use.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Residents can be notified when their laundry has completed its cycle thanks to the Bluetooth-enabled laundry facilities. They do, however, still have to fold their clothes themselves — or design a machine that will do that in one of the residence hall's makerspaces.

Photo by Charlie Leight/ASU Now

Students check in to Tooker House. The vast majority of Tooker House residents are first-year engineering students. The 1,600-student community also features a recreation center with modern student lounges, billiards and ping-pong; a modern fitness center with cardio machines and strength equipment, and a convenience store.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Mechanical engineering junior Sajana Ratnayake (left) and civil engineering senior Pedro Giorge work in one of two Tooker makerspaces. The spaces provide a collaborative environment where students can work on projects, develop new technologies and have access to tools like 3-D printers and laser cutters. They have video chat, adjustable tables, soundproofing and lockers for projects.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Students walk through one of the common spaces at Tooker House. The building, designed by Archtectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz and built by American Campus Communities, began with traditional desert architecture concepts as a starting point. It features a complementary color palette of desert tones, using colors and materials that will resist fading and wear.

Photo by Deanna Dent/ASU Now

Two makerspaces outfitted for engineers provide a collaborative environment where students can work on projects, develop new technologies and have access to tools like 3-D printers and laser cutters. The spaces are also equipped with video chat, adjustable tables, soundproofing and lockers for projects.

“Engineers go through a lot of classes, and they have to do a lot of group work,” Bolin said. “What’s awesome about Tooker House, there’s plenty of group spaces where students can come together and use the floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall white boards. They can write out their big equations like they do in the movies. We created spaces like that just for them to walk down the hall with their roommate or someone who is in the same class with them and utilize the space we have here for them to work on their projects together. And, with the academic success centers in Tooker House, they have direct access to tutors, who are sophomores, seniors and sometimes grad students.”

Other amenities in the residence hall include a full-service, 14,000-square-foot, 525-seat dining facility; recreation center with modern student lounges, billiards and ping-pong; a modern fitness center with cardio machines and strength equipment, and a convenience store.

It’s a gated community with 24-hour campus security and front-desk services; live-in residential staff; and a courtyard with a sun deck and outdoor gathering pavilions.

On-site laundry facilities with Bluetooth washers and dryers notify students when cycles are complete.

“We have 130 washers and dryers to accommodate (students),” Bolin said. “They are on the second, fourth and sixth floors. There’s a really cool app. If a student doesn’t want to get out of their room, they can check the app to see when a machine is available and when their laundry is done.”

The new residence hall is named for Diane and Gary Tooker. Diane Tooker is an alumnus of ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and a former business owner and elementary school teacher. Gary Tooker is an alumnus of the Fulton Schools of Engineering and a former CEO of Motorola.

Together, the couple has made contributions to ASU through the ASU Foundation for more than 30 years, including support for the university’s teaching and engineering programs and the endowed Diane and Gary Tooker Chair for Effective Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Gary Tooker’s contributions to fostering Arizona’s tech sector were recognized with a lifetime achievement award presented at the 2012 Governor’s Celebration of Innovation.

“Diane and Gary Tooker are not only longtime supporters of ASU, but of innovation and education. Tooker House epitomizes the best of both,” said Gretchen Buhlig, CEO of ASU Foundation. “We are grateful to them, and for the opportunity to bring new spaces and modes of learning to our Fulton Schools of Engineering students.”